Rheostat.



H. J. WIBGAND.

BHEOSTAT. APrLIoA'rIoN HLBD AUG..2. 1912.

1,092,880, Patented Apr. 14, 1914,

UNITED STATES PATENT onrrcn .HENRY I.' oF/aIrLwAUxEE, WISCONSIN, AssIeNon To THE- cUTLnanungnn acre. eo., or MILWAUKEE, WISCONSIN.

nunosTaT.

1,092,830. annimmt man ment Patented Apr. 14,1914. spinnen-nea um a, 191s. serial No. 11am.

Toall'whom it concern: midway between the walls of the channel.

Be it known that I,HnNnrJ-. WIEGAND, a citizen of the -United States, residing at Milwaukee, in the county of Milwaukee and 'State of- Wisconsin, 'e 4invented new and useful ImprovementsA n Rheostats, of which the following is a full, clear concise, and exact description, reference belng had to the accomparliying drawing, forming a part of this spec' cation. y

My invention'relates to improvements in rheostats. p

In certain classesgof rheos'tats, lespecially those of the dat, circular type, great diiiculty has' heretofore been ex erienced in so arranging the resistance an contacts as to secure-the desired amount of resistance and the desired number of steps of regulation in n rheostat of preferred dimensions.

My invention hasfamong its ob'ects to provide a rheostat wherein the 'des ed amount of resistance and the desired number of steps of regulationmay be readily provided for with great economy of s ace. l;

Other objects and a vantages of my invention will hereinafter appear. l

For the purpose of more clearly and 'fully disclosing the nature and advantagesof my 'invention I shall deseribethe rheostat illustrated in the accompanying drawing. It should, of course, be Vunderstood that my invention is susceptible of modification.

In the accompanying drawing, Figure 1 is a lan view of the rheostat with the covering ofp the resistance removed. Fig. 2 is a sectional view 4on line 2-2 `of Fig. 1. Fig. 3 is a rspective view of one of the contacts:

he rheostat selected for the purpose of illustration is of the disk type and particularly adapted to theater dimmer use. It comprises a flat, circular baseV 1 of any-sultable insulating material, such for example as tsoapstone. The upper side of the base 1 is rovided with an annular channel or recess 2 of suitable depth. IVithinthis channel is arranged a circular series of contacts 3 secured to tlie base in a manner hereinafter set forth. These contacts are preferably arranged con eentrically within the channel and about 0n opposite sides of the contacts, with the advantages herelnater set forth.l

" This permits the resistanceto be arranged While4 in practice any suitable resistance material ma be employed, I prefer to employ reflexe reslstance wire\ sections l and 5, as illustrated. Each of these sections com-y prises a loo having the ends thereof connected to ad] acent contacts, the sections 4 bemg connected on the outside of the contacts and the sections 5 bein connected to the in-' side of the contactsan in a staggered relat1on to the sections 4. That is to say, the sections 4 and 5 are so connected tol the'contacts that current will iow from one ofthe contacts through oneof the sections 4 to the next adjacent cont-act, thence through one of the sections 5 to the next adjacent contact, lthence through another section 4 and an'- otlier section 5, and so on. Thus, each of the sections constitutes one step of resistance.

The resistance' is` preferably `laid out on substantially radial lines, as illustrated, in order to '1n exnniformly distribute the same .over the ba and at the same time provide for such spacing of the portions as to insure agalnstshort clrcuits. Of cqurse, in'practice the sections of resistance-may be* grad.

uatedas desired by compressing or-spread ing the convolutions andfreflexi'ng the loops, as illustrated at 6, if desired. It will thus be at once apparent that this arrangel'nent of the contacts and resistance enables the use of more resistance material and provides for more steps of regulation than would be possible with .the contact-s arranged at either the outer oi' inner periphery of the resistance receiving channel. Further, it provides for a much 4more even distribution of the resistance material-and accordingly a much more even distribution of the heat over the surface of the `base, which of course increases theefficiency of the rheostat.

In practice, various different forms of contacts may be employed. I prefer, however, to use contacts of the type illustrated in Fig. 3. This Contact comprises a sheet metalstamping having a Contact face 7, two

downwardly projecting llugs 8 and 9 adaptt ed to' project in tosuitable recesses in,the

base 15 asshown in Fig. 2 and With curved clips 10 and 11 for the attachment ofthe resistance'sections. The contactl illustrated may be readily formed of an oblong strip of sheet metal. Thelugs 8 and9 'and the clips 10 and l1-are preferably staggered.

After the contacts have been set into the base -aiid the resistance sections connected thereto the channel 2 vpreferably filled with cement or other suitable. plastic Inaterial 12 to embed the resistancev and con- For connecting` the r-heostat in circuit binding posts 14: and 15 are provided. These binding posts are preferably arranged on the periphery on the base 1 and the base is preferably provided on its periphery with grooves 1G and 17 for; housing the leads from the contacts to be connected to 4the binding posts. As shown, the bind i ug post 15 is connected by conductor 18 to the uppermost contact of section B. while the binding post 14 is connected to the lowerniost contact of the section A.

Any suitable controlling element may be provided for the. resistance. For example, a` double ended lever 19, such as illustrated iii'dotted lines, may be employed for simultaneously moving over the contacts of both sections A and B to electrically connect said sectionsand simultaneously cut out or inl scrttheir steps of resistance.

Having 'thus described my invention what I claim as new and desire to secure by'Letters Patent is:

1. A rlieostat. provided with a series of contacts, a resistance connectedtliereto, said resistance being reilexed across saidv series of contacts to form loopson opposite sides thereof.

' 2. A rheostat providedV with a series of contacts arranged in an .arc and resistance connected to said contacts and having parts extending in opposite' directions froinsaid contacts on substantially radial lines.

3. A rheostat provided withl aseries of contacts and a resistance connected thereto and divided thereby into sections disposed alternately on opposite sides ofs'aid series of contacts.

A rheostat provided. with a series of contacts and resistance loops arranged on op being Iarranged in a staggered relation.

l5, A rheostat provided with a series of loops on opposite sides of said series ofvcontacts, each loop connecting two adjacent contacts and the loops on opposite sides of said 'contacts being staggered.

6.. A rheostat providcdwith a series of contacts arranged in an 4af'c and resistance comprising a reileXed Wire-arran ged in loops on opposite sides of said series of contactsand connected thereto.

7. A rheostat provided with a vseries of' contacts arranged in an arc and reHeXed resistance Wire connected to said contacts and having portions extending on substantially radial lines in opposite ydirections from said contacts.

. 8 A rheostat' comprising a base, a series of contacts arranged thereon in the form of an arc, and resistance mounted on said base' and connected to said contacts, said resistance having a'plurality of complete sections l on opposite sides of said series of contacts.

9. A rlicostat comprising 'a base, a series of contacts mounted thereon in `an arc and reilexed resistance Wire looped tlatwiseupoii said base on opposite sides of said contacts and connected thereto.

'10. A rhcostat comprising a flatbase, a series ofcontactsinounted thereon in an arc and reflexed resistance Wire laid out upon said' base on opposite sides of said contacts on substantially radial lines and connected .to said contacts.

11. A rheostat comprising a Hat insulatving,base'lfiaving a curved channel therein, a

series of contacts arranged in an arc in said channel and spaced from both the edges thereof, resistance loops arranged in said channel on opposite sides of said contacts and connected thereto and a plastic llei for said channel embedding said resistance and portions of said contacts.

12. A rh'eostat .comprising an insulating base having an annular channel therein, a

yseries. of contacts concentrically arranged in ysaid channel, ,resistances arranged Within said' channel on'A opposite sides of said series of contactsl and connected thereto and a plastic iiller for said channel embedding said resistance andportions of s aid contacts.

13. A rhcostat comprising an insulating base having an annular channel therein, a seriesof contacts concentrically arranged in said' channel, resistances arranged Within said channel on opposite sides of said series of contacts and connected thereto and a plastic filler for said channel embedding said resistance-and portions of snid contacts, said `contacts arranged in anv arc and resistance ipo.

resistance comprising loops of ree'xed Wire,` pointl Contiguous to a terminal of said 1 0 each loop connecting two adjacent contact-s ance 4fo'r.f'1'eceivi11g a y'connect'.uig1 conductor". and the Loops on opposite sides of the conf In witnessl whereof, Igilaehereuntoslib-:l

. tacts being disposed in.J staggered relation. scribed'my-name in the presenoeof'twoxwif- 14; A rheosta-t comprising 'a circular in,- nesses.

sulating base, a resistance mounted thereon, l HNRYJ; and a terminalrdevice on the periphery-of. ,VVitnessesr' v .said basez said base having a, lperipheralv -ALFRED HALYERSON,

groove extending from said devices to a M. R. FENNo. 

